The 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are headed to Pal Arinsal, Andorra where riders will compete in Cross-Country Olympic (XCO), Short Track (XCC), Downhill (DHI), and E-MTB Cross-Country. Team USA is looking strong after a successful season at the Olympics and on the World Cup circuit.
On the XCO side, 20 riders will compete across the elite, under-23, and junior categories. Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing) is fresh off of winning a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as well as Savilia Blunk’s (Inverness, Calif.; Decathlon Ford Racing Team) 12th place finish. Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing) had nothing to lose in Paris racing with the elites. He rode to the USA’s best male finish – 7th place. Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing) finished in the top 15.
For the downhill riders, the American team has never been better. Podium hunters Dakotah Norton (Clinton, Tenn.; Mondraker Factory Racing) and Luca Shaw (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Canyon Collective) are both sitting top ten in the World Cup overall standings after they both landed on three podiums each this season. Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Beyond Racing MTB) found her speed this year landing on her first-ever elite World Cup podium taking second in Leogang earlier this year. Junior rider Asa Vermette (Durango, Colo.; Frameworks Racing) has taken his first year of World cup racing by storm. He won three out of the five Junior Men’s World Cups and is currently leading the overall standings.
The Team USA roster is as follows:
Cross Country
Elite Women
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing)
Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Decathlon Ford Racing Team)
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing)
Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing)
Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; Team 31)
Elite Men
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Specialized Factory Racing)
U23 Women
Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)
Sofia Waite (Durango, Colo.; BH Coloma Team)
U23 Men
Riley Amos (Durango, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing)
Carson Hampton (Boise, Idaho; Bear National Team)
Brayden Johnson (Littleton, Colo.; Santa Cruz Rock Shox)
Bjorn Riley (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Future Racing)
Junior Women
Alice Hoskins (Charlottesville, Va.; Gravity Collective)
Vida Lopez de San Roman (Sebastopol, Calif.; Bear National Team)
Ingrid McElroy (Danville, Pa.; Bear National Team)
Junior Men
Ezra Caudell (Acworth, Ga.; Gravity Collective)
Henry Coote (Manchester, Mass.; Competitive Edge)
Nicholas Konecny (Breckenridge, Colo.; Bear National Team)
Luke Mosteller (Tunnell Hill, Ga.; Bear National Team)
River Valdez (Sedona, Ariz.; Bear National Team)
Downhill
Elite Men
Austin Dooley (Yucaipa, Calif.; Commencal Schwalbe)
Dylan Maples (Orangevale, Calif.; Commencal Muc-Off)
Dakotah Norton (Clinton, Tenn.; Mondraker Factory Racing)
Ryan Pinkerton (Alisa Viejo, Calif.; Mondraker Factory Racing)
Richie Rude (Redding, Conn; Yeti/ FOX Factory Team)
Luca Shaw (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Canyon Collective)
Dante Silva (Chula Vista, Calif.; Canyon Collective Pirelli Team)
Elite Women
Abby Hogie (Heidelberg, Germany; Beyond Racing MTB)
Anna Newkirk (Riehen, Switzerland; Beyond Racing MTB)
Abby Ronca (Bethlehem, Pa.; Evolve Racing)
Junior Men
Bode Burke (Rhododendron, Ore.; Outlaw Bike Team)
Lucas DeDora (Huntington Station, N.Y.; Transition Factory Racing)
Ryder Lawrence (Menifee, Calif.; Intense Factory Racing)
Gavin Tomlinson (Burbank, Calif.; Gravity Collective)
Asa Vermette (Durango, Colo.; Frameworks Racing)
Junior Women
Kale Cushman (Old Town, Maine)
Teagan Heap (Boulder City, Nev.; Pivot Cycles)
Julia Lofqvist Traum (Issaquah, Wash.)
Matilda Melton (Bellingham, Wash.; Transition Factory Racing)
E-MTB Cross-Country
Men
David Harrison (Sun Valley, Idaho)
*Carson Beard and Taylor Ostgaard were nominated to the team but have declined their nominations.
